


Always and Forever

by CrystalRavenClaw



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula is Crazy, Burnings, Character Death, Don’t Hate Me!!!, Gen, I tried my best here guys, Life gave them some horrible Choices, Mentions of Aang/Katara - Freeform, Mentions of Sokka/Yue, Sokka Centered, Tell me if I need to add more tags?, mentions of sokka/suki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24439162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalRavenClaw/pseuds/CrystalRavenClaw
Summary: Azula has always been cool and cunning. She knows how to play people. This time, she’s played them into a corner, and there is no way out.Or the one where the GAang help the wrong people and Sokka makes the big decision before anyone else.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	Always and Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Please look at tags!!! This is a bit heavy. Understand before reading that this is angsty! Also, I love Sokka and the rest of the Gaang, and while Katara is not my favorite by any means, this is not a bash on her. Enjoy!

Always and Forever

Ba Sing Se didn’t have a war within its walls. Sokka didn’t know if this was a good thing for the people or a detrimental one. Well, that’s not true, but the city was beautiful and the tea was fantastic! The point is though, Ba Sing Se didn’t have the war, but that didn’t stop the people from having their own issues with each other, didn’t stop the people from speculating, didn’t stop the conspiracy theories that seemed to start, and then stopped. Sokka remembered hearing a little boy tell his friend about his insane theory that outside the walls were dragons that were taking over the world, one big step at a time. 

The next day, Sokka saw the same boy and went to ask him where he heard that from, where he got the idea, and the boy simply looked at him with blank eyes, before saying “there is no war in Ba Sing Se.” 

That boy is creepy and if Sokka sees him again, he is going to turn around and run.

Then the gang found out about the Dai Li and the betrayal of Long Feng and the boy made more sense to Sokka. 

Finding this out really made Aang want to help the people more so than he already was. “The people are being brainwashed guys! We got to help them!” He waved his hands around to prove his point even more. 

Apparently being brainwashed and helping people meant that the group was to help people with even the most mundane tasks. Like washing clothes, making food, serving said food, cleaning buses, making tea, cleaning people’s backs, scrubbing between people’s toes, refining stones that seemed to already shine so bright they could blind a person in the right light.

Needless to say, Sokka is hoarding a grudge and fletching of hatred in his heart for Ba Sing Se. 

Then they met an old woman who was looking for her cat who ran away, and Sokka almost threw his boomerang at her. 

They are team AVATAR, they shouldn’t have to be running around the city finding cats. They should be running around the city learning Fire Nation trades, learning Earthbending and Waterbending, making plans to invade the evil Nation. Avatar doesn’t mean Always Vast Adventuring To Aid Residents, but here they are. Aiding residents that really don’t need help.

Sokka hates Ba Sing Se. 

At least the old ugly lady gave them places to look, so Toph and Katara went to the nicely furnished Spa that gave the visitors punch and feet rubs, Aang and him went to the crusty, haunted, dusty, falling apart, if you walk in you’ll be damned for the rest of your life, hotel. 

The place smelled like marinated farts. 

Does he know what that smells like? 

Yes.

“Aang, I don’t have a good feeling about this place,” Sokka voices for his insanely young comrade. Aang would listen to him, as he was older than him, handsome; a stud muffin really, and who cared about a cat that was probably about to kick the bucket and running away from a stale old lady. Sokka doesn’t blame the thing. Plus the cat’s name is Chris B. Bacon. It deserves to be food with a name like that. 

“Come on, Sokka! I think we are getting closer!” Aang rushes forward into the building, not looking back at Sokka to see if he followed. 

Sokka did follow Aang into the building, but not before muttering a quick “Tui and La, we’re gonna die for a cat.” 

He didn’t know how true that was.

Strolling in after Aang was like walking through a graveyard at night. He knew logically that nothing was going to happen but in the corner of his mind a spider of doubt started to weave a web.

And he was right! Because standing right in front of them was Azula, her hair pinned perfectly in a display of power. Hair pinned perfectly in a performance of power, hair perfectly, painlessly, pompously pinned purposely to persuade people to her performance of power.

Ha. 

“Well, well, well if it isn’t the Avatar and the extra. So good to see you. Now if you don’t mind, surrender and no one gets hurt,” she spook as she looked at her pristine nails. 

Aang of course stood his ground, showing off the deep blemishes under his eyes, “I’ll never surrender to you, or anyone else in the fire nation!” 

Azula simply laughed, high pitched and chilling to the bone as she launched herself at the two of them. 

Sokka knows when a fight is lost. He’s a tactical genius, of course he does. And as Aang starts to slow down, dodging slower and slower, and Azula starts to use more deadly attacks while gracefully maneuvering out of boomerang’s way. 

He was going to ignore her tunts to Aang and only Aang. 

Sokka was raised in an environment with no men around, and while this didn’t remove the sexist thoughts or ideals, it sure taught him a few things that he never would have learned before. 

The sky was crying black snow, Aang and Katara were banished, the warriors were just children, and the black steel traps were descending on the village. Then the leader came out, and while he seemed to be a teenager like Sokka, he was much more. Stronger, faster, smarter. The ice was cracked below their feet, the air was licking their eyes, and their bodies seemed to shy away from the threat, like a baby seal to a mouse lion; the women and children of the Southern Water Tribe were now faced with a predator of the highest rankings. The troops' steps will remain implanted into Sokka’s brain as they walk towards them. The cling of the metal, the voice cutting through the air, and the heat that seemed to swell around them. 

The village was going to lose. 

At that point, Sokka didn’t think they had the bargaining chip they needed, all he knew was the Fire Nation had come on a hunt, and they were the meat. 

Sokka may not be great at lying, but acting was something he could pull off with enough pressure. Bravo was usually how that came off, surrounded by people like Aang, Toph, and Katara. 

At this moment, Sokka did the only thing he could do. The mountain lions were looking for a fight and he was the biggest seal; even if it was just appearance wise. He ran up the creaking ramp, yelling, his face pulled into a rabbid grin. 

Protect, protect, protect.

The leader, Zuko, grabbed his staff and broke it with no issues. He was thrown into the snow, rubbing off the warrior face paint, and probably a concussion, but he couldn’t think about that. 

He kept getting up. He kept fighting. Look at me, look at me, don’t look at them, look at me. He was the largest seal, and the villagers were his to take care of. Even if it meant just giving them enough time to run. 

If Aang hadn’t arrived when he did, Sokka…

He was prepared to die that day.

They were still losing against Azula, when she grabbed Aang for what seemed like the last time. “Let him go!” Sokka yelled, racing towards the Fire Princess, boomerang in hand. 

She just raised an eyebrow before jutting her head back. Her eyes were only of Aang, as her smile became demonic. The Dia Li were surrounding them in a second, earthbending Sokka into the ground and Aang’s hands and legs together. The men stood for order, waiting. 

She paid them no mind, instead stepped back, “Avatar, you caused my brother some trouble trying to catch you, yet it seemed so simple,” she sneered while ignoring Aang’s question of ‘who’s your brother?’ “I’m bored, you have bored me. So lets play a game. My intellect against yours.” She got right in Aang’s face.

Sokka has seen a viper snake catch a mouse-roach, it’s teeth releasing the venom sac into the mouse’s jugular, watched as the mouse went limp before being swallowed whole. Katara had seen something similar, when they first got into the Earth Kingdom, and had saved the mouse, saying it did nothing to deserve that kind of treatment. Toph had laughed and laughed, saying it was just the food chain at work. To leave them alone. 

Katara had helped where Sokka never could. 

Sokka was about to call to Aang, tell him it was a trap, when the Dia Li put their weird ground hand on his mouth, the incisions on the hand biting his cheek as the blood ran down his face. 

“I’d never play a game with you!” Aang yells. 

He’s so young. 

He’s younger than Katara. 

He’s never played with a mouse lion before. 

Azula cocks her head in mock confusion, “You don’t have to play if you don't want to,” she walked over to Sokka, and Sokka knows this is it. Tell his father and Katara he loves them, because he’s about to be eaten whole by a viper snake. 

“I’ll just play with your friend instead.” 

Azula never needed knives, never had swords, all she needed was her firebending. The blue flame was hot and wild as it blazed near his face; like a child burning ants through a glass. 

He didn’t scream at first. 

That doesn’t stop Aang though. He thrashes against the Dia Li holding him down, screaming bloody murder. Sokka can’t speak, he can’t tell Aang that it’s ok. It’s always ok because Sokka is the largest seal in a den of Mouse Lions, and he doesn’t want his cubs hurt. Look at me, look at me, never at them, look at me. 

She held the fire right against his stomach, not close enough to burn through the skin to the organs, but enough to snare the skin indefinitely. All he knew was pain, pain, hot, pain. It was like his eyes didn’t work, rolling in his head only seeing white. 

She got right up to his ear, “Oh that’s cute,” Aang was trying to help Sokka, he could hear his screaming from here, Aang stopped to hear Azula hiss, “but I want to hear you scream.” 

Sokka doesn’t remember what happens next. He doesn’t know if he ever wants too.

When he wakes, the world around him is blurry and everything is inflamed. He’s tied up with rope, around his ankles and hands, there is a bandana gagging him. He’s eyes adjust to the room, the greens covered with red, and the baiges swamped in black. The columns around him stand tall and immaculate. There was a blaconey that the Dia Li clung to, from any other position, indetectable. Across from him was Aang, between them was a large hallway, the carpet originally olive, but now had stains of red. 

Sokka really didn’t want to know who stood there last. 

Azula sat at the front of the room, lounging in a gold throne, “You are both awake, good,” her eyes trailed slowly between the two of them, her posture lazy, her mouth twisted into a small smile if worn by a child would look perfect and innocent. Worn by Azula, it was deadly.

“Now we just wait for the key players. I wonder who is gonna win, Avatar, me or you?” She giggled, high pitched as her nails played with the ends of her hair.

Aang was struggling against the rope, trying to airbend his way out, then waterbend, then earthbend, but nothing was working. There was no water nearby, the Dia Li broke any of the rocks he got, and while Aang could breath himself backwards, Sokka had seen what looked like a spike behind him. 

They had really lost this time.

So they waited. 

And Waited. 

Then Katara threw the doors open. She was breathing heavy, her hair was stuck to her face, her clothes were ripped, and she was coated in dirt. 

His sister has never looked so beautiful before. 

“Azula! Release Aang and my brother now!” She demanded, not seeing the Dia Li yet, as she lowered herself with the water next to her. Aang was trying to tell her to stop, but he couldn’t move much, and Katara couldn’t spare a second to look at him. 

“Now, now, let's not rush,” Azula nodded, and the Dia Li popped up behind Katara, taking her waterbending pouch, and slinging her down. “I have a proposition for you.” Azula got up and strolled over to Katara, grabbing her face between her fingers. “2 of you are going to walk out, one is not. The game is simple. Your choice. The Dia Li have a killing shot on both the Avatar and the Water Tribe peasant. You point to one, and we kill the other, and the 2 of you walk out of here alive. Try to save both, and none of you leave. Isn’t that kind of me?” 

Katara was crying. 

His little sister was crying and he knew why. They weren’t going to make it out of this one. The building was surrounded by what sounded like Fire Nation foot troopes, probably both Mia and Ty Lee were somewhere outside keeping Toph from coming inside, and the room they were standing in had the Dia Li and Azula in it. 

They were the Southern Water Tribe. The two of them knew what sacrifice was more than they knew family. As children they would always give the food they caught to the village to be split up, even if it meant they wouldn’t eat. The two of them grew up around sacrifice as their dad left to fight something bigger than them. The two of them lived sacrifice as they left the people they loved in order to help Aang, even if it meant they never got to see home again. 

The people around them always said family was important, yet their Grandmother left hers behind in the North, their mother left to join Tui and La, and their father left to fight a war. 

Katara was crying because she knew her choice, and he knew it too. She was 14 years old and in love with a boy who was the world’s only hope. 

When Sokka was 14, he had the biggest crush on a 20 year old single woman named Liliah. Some people had tried to marry her, but she always said no, most of the women hated her because she was crazy to them, learning how to hunt was not right for women. When Sokka told Gran Gran he loved this girl, she looked him in the face and told him to gaze into her eyes. To see the crazy there. When Sokka looked, he saw determination and a fierce love for life. Later, Katara would tell him he had a type as he looked at Suki. 

The point is, he knew what Katara was thinking. She was thinking he was the biggest seal in the mouse lion den, screaming at them to look at him. 

She was always going to pick Aang. 

It wasn’t her fault in any way, Sokka and her both knew this. Sacrifice was important to the Water Tribe, as was family. Sometimes these things conflicted with each other. Sometimes, a person needed to put aside their own feelings and pick what was better for everyone.

They could win the war without Sokka, but they couldn’t without Aang. 

Their dad would have made the same choice. So would Bato and Master Pakku. Yue had made this decision already. If Sokka was in her shoes, he would do the same thing. 

Now if it was Katara tied up with Aang, then Sokka would choose Katara in an instant, but that was because he had already lost too much, he wasn't as strong as Katara. 

She was so young.

His ears weren’t working anymore. He couldn’t hear anything, his eyes were swimming in and out of focus, his head was drilling a hole into his skull. 

He doesn’t see Katara begging Azula not to make her choose. He didn’t see Aang getting his gag out and cursing Azula’s name. He doesn’t see Azula laugh and laugh. He didn’t see Katara letting her chin drop to her chest as her hand pointed to Sokka. 

He did hear the arrows as they came for both Aang and himself. 

He could feel it dig into his skin, pulverising the area like a can of meat. He could feel the blood run out of the wound. He could feel Azula’s escape, as she catapulted out of the room. 

He could feel the mouth guard fall away. 

Everything was numb now. 

All his senses came back in a rush, as if the spirits were giving him one last look at the world he was leaving behind. His head tilted, and he watched Katara sprint to Aang, healing his wounds. He would be too far gone by the time she was done. 

That was ok.

He misses his boomerang. The Dia Li took it.

He misses Suki too. She is beautiful with her cropped hair and perfect eyes.

He loves Katara too. 

He loved Yue.

The world went on. The Avatar defeated Ozai, Katara and Zuko beat Azula, Toph lost her life taking down the fleets all by herself. 

They won the war. 

The ones left behind, the ones who never made it to the final battle, the ones who gave themselves over for the good of the world got medals at the Fire Lord’s coronation. It wasn’t enough…

Sokka loves his sister. He always would. He loved meat, his boomerang, Suki, and Yue. If Katara cried late at night with Azula’s words digging into her ears and somehow woke up the next morning feeling nothing but bliss. Well.

He wasn’t going to tell if she wouldn’t.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, how was it? Please leave comments, I would love to know people’s reactions! Did I get his character ok? How many mistakes are there? 
> 
> Something I would really like to see in the next season (I hope it’s good) is an episode centered around just Katara and Sokka, not their dad or the Water Tribe, but just them and their relationship. We get all these episodes centered around other relationships: Zuko and Katara, Zuko and Aang, Zuko and Sokka, Toph and Katara, and Aang and Katara, but not really Katara and Sokka. We get moments, but I want more then a Moment! Or I want a solo episode for Sokka, like Sokka’s Master, where we see how his childhood and being a nonbender effects him and his relationship to Katara.
> 
> Sorry for the rant.
> 
> Remember, this hurt me more then it hurt you!!!


End file.
